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Lost in Shadows
Prologue A gray tom loped along a silver pool. Below, a sprawling camp was just waking up out on the forest floor. The tom's wide paws itched with nerves as he paced around and around the camp, blue eyes never leaving the water. Another tom, a yawning dark tabby padded in, blinking his green eyes sleepily. "Pebbleclaw? What are you doing up?" the tom padded over, "Have you been up all night?" Pebbleclaw blinked and looked up, his blue eyes unusually bright. "Oh...hello Greeneyes. And, yes I've been up. I-I just have this terrible feeling." Greeneyes crossed over to the far side of the water where his friend was still searching the camp. "About...?" he prompted gently. "Lionstar." Pebbleclaw murmured, not looking up. Greeneyes sighed and looked over the water, reflecting sadly on the strength of a bond between mentor and apprentice- a bond that could not be wavered by death. "Pebbleclaw," he began quietly, "I know that Lionstar will always be your apprentice, no matter his age or rank. And even though my Thornpaw never..." he winced, "Never got his name, I still know what you're going through. Lionstar is a leader now though, he can take care of himself." Pebbleclaw looked up, eyes wild with fear and anger. Greeneyes took a step back. "You don't know what it's like though!" he hissed, "How can a leader suspect disloyalty from the cat he trusted the most?" "You mean Yarrowheart," Greeneyes meowed evenly. Pebbleclaw nodded, his eyes drifting back towards the pond. "Yes, I have sensed darkness within him too." Greeneyes continued, "But he's a deputy! He would never kill his leader!" "Wouldn't he?" Pebbleclaw murmured. He turned to Greeneyes and the old medicine cat was shocked to see tears swimming in his friend's eyes. He pressed against the gray tom. "Lionstar is the best cat I know," Pebbleclaw whispered, "I know he's going to die today." Greeneyes' heart twisted as he wondered if Pebbleclaw still saw Lionstar as the bouncing golden apprentice from his mentoring days. He gave his friend's ear a comforting lick. "I know," Pebbleclaw whispered, "Why can't I save him?" Chapter 1 Yarrowheart took a deep breath and let out a small purr. Today was the day. He wondered if any other deputy had ever been so sure of when they would become leaders. He looked at the sky. He would do it now. If he did, he could be a Moon Stones tonight. He padded across the hard-packed camp ground. The green-leaf sun-baked ground was hot and he stepped lightly so as not to burn his pads. He looked proudly around ThunderClan camp. One day he would lead them. He padded in front of the lichen that kept the leader's den from view. His den. He smirked arrogantly. It wasn't that he had anything against Lionstar. It was for the good of the Clan- Yarrowheart would be a much stronger leader. His fur ruffled slightly as he remembered all the times when they'd been warriors together that Lionstar had bested him in fighting or hunting. He let out a small growl of satisfaction. Well, they'd see who was really better. He meowed, "Lionstar?" "Come in," his leader replied. Yarrowheart padded in, seeing that his leader had just woken up. The tom blinked his sleepy amber eyes and smiled wanly at his deputy, "Greetings Yarrowheart. Would you like to have a seat?" Yarrowheart sat, recognizing the troubled look in his leader's eyes. "Visits from StarClan?" he inquired. His old mentor nodded, "Nothing much but..." "But...?" Yarrowheart prompted impatiently. Lionstar's eyes flashed in annoyance, then he purred, "You haven't changed since apprenticeship. Still as impatient." Yarrowheart forced a purr and asked again, "So, what did you see?" Lionstar shook his broad head, "I didn't see anything," he meowed in confusion, "But there were voices...telling me of dangers within the Clan." Yarrowheart let out a small hiss. Now! He unsheathed his claws. Lionstar looked at him in confusion, "Yarrowheart, what are you-" "StarClan was right," Yarrowheart snarled. He lunged at Lionstar. Chapter 2 Yarrowheart went straight for Lionstar's throat. The leader was bigger then he was, but Yarrowheart had the element of surprise. And it didn't hurt that Lionstar had just woken up or that Yarrowheart had been practicing for this moment for seasons. It was perfect. There had been rogue sightings recently and clumps of fur found around camp. Yarrowheart would steal some of them and hide them in Lionstar's claws. It would look like a tragic murder. No one would suspect the grieving deputy. Lionstar let out a muffled yowl of surprise, but Yarrowheart had him pinned. Yarrowheart knew he only had a few moments, but something slowed him. I am killing my leader. The words swirled in his head for a moment, but he shook them out. He needed for this to happen. He refused to let himself think of the moments that had led him here. He raised his paw and thistle sharp claws gleamed in the weak morning light. Lionstar glared at him, not yowling for help, not begging for life. His amber eyes were clear and he didn't flinch as Yarrowheart brought his claws down. Yarrowheart leaped to the side and looked at his leader's misted over eyes. He carefully wiped the blood from his claws and removed all of Lionstar's fur from them. He removed his fur from Lionstar's claws and replaced it with the rogue fur. Then he took a deep breath and turned, pelting out of the den. "Lionstar is dead!" he wailed as he got out of the den. The Clan stopped and looked up, eyes widening and filling with tears, "What happened?" someone called. "A rogue was able to sneak in through the back and killed him while we were talking," Yarrowheart meowed sadly. "Then you're our leader now Yarrowheart!" one of the elders meowed. "If we hurry, we can make it to the Moon Stone tonight!" Berrydapple, the medicine cat meowed. Yarrowheart nodded and leaped down, padding with the medicine cat to her den to get the traveling herbs. As he chewed, he tried to hide his smile. Finally. Chapter 3 Berrydapple and Yarrowheart padded across ThunderClan territory. The herbs were working and Berrydapple felt as if he had not a full stomach nor an empty one. He just wasn't aware of his stomach at all. Berrydapple didn't talk much, but as they reached the WindClan moor, she meowed, "What did they look like?" "Who?" Yarrowheart asked, surprised. "The rogue," Berrydapple meowed, giving him a curious look. Yarrowheart turned away, "I-I...can we please not talk about it?" Berrydapple nodded and to Yarrowheart's relief she sounded sympathetic, "I understand. Seeing your leader, your mentor die in front of you? That's terrible." Yarrowheart nodded. He knew there would be questions he would have to later, why he couldn't fight off the rogue, how the rogue got in, and many more. But for now he was just happy to get his lives. Yarrowstar, he relished the thought, It has a nice ring to it. He didn't feel the slightest remorse for what he had done. He knew it had been the right choice, not even glancing towards Shadepaw, Lionstar's daughter and her mother Lilyfrost on his way out of camp. They'd get over it. Or not. Frankly, he didn't really care. The sun was beginning to sink and a dull ache was starting to grow in Yarrowheart's stomach. Hunger. But he could see jagged rocks reaching hungrily for the sky in the distance and he knew they were close. They padded across the moor and over rocks until they stood in front of a gaping mouth in the rocks. Yarrowheart looked up. The moon was beginning to rise. "Welcome," Berrydapple meowed reverently, "To Mothermouth." Chapter 4 Without a word, Berrydapple led Yarrowheart into the cave. His pelt prickled with excitement and slight uncomfortableness as the darkness pressed at him from all sides. I can't breathe! Berrydapple's voice came from ahead of him, "It's okay, you can breathe." Yarrowheart nodded weakly and took deep gasping breaths while trying not to alert Berrydapple to his panic. Just when he had decided to turn and run back out, the cavern opened into a huge chamber. In the center was crystal turned bright by the moonlight. "Wow," he breathed softly. "Quickly, touch your nose to it!" Berrydapple urged. Yarrowheart sprang forward, laying down and pressing his nose against the cool, hard rock. He closed his eyes.... ...and opened them. He was standing in a grassy meadow, and above him was a rocky plateau. He leaped onto it and all of the sudden, the air was full of whispers around him. He saw lithe shapes in the grass, tails slinking among the waving daffodils. He spun around, "Hello?" There was a whisper, an icy scent of the wild. When Yarrowheart turned back around, first two cats on either side of him had formed. A small ginger tom to his left and a golden tom to his right. More cats formed- a light brown tabby, a sickly looking tom with a crippled leg, a dark brown tom, a green-eyed cat, a gray tabby. In the center stood Lionstar, his golden fur blazing in the starlight. "There are only eight of you," Yarrowheart stammered, "And I don't know you!" The green-eyed tom spoke first, "No, you don't know us. We are not the lives of those you have lost, we are the lives you must strive to earn." "What?" "You killed Lionstar," seethed the gray tabby, his voice full of heart-broken grief, "You are not worthy to be leader. You are not worthy to be anything." "You cannot be given the lives you were supposed to earn," Lionstar meowed. Yarrowheart saw something lurking in his amber eyes- disappointment?, "You must earn them," "What?" Yarrowheart scoffed, "That's crazy, no cat has ever had to-" "Loyalty," Lionstar meowed, "And love," "Faith," the green-eyed tom said. The gray tabby's blue eyes were like daggers in Yarrowheart's pelt, "Mentoring." "Patience," the dark tabby growled. "Humility," the crippled tom said, ducking his head. The light tabby curled his tail neatly around his paws, "Kindness." The golden tom tipped his head, "Selflessness." The small red tom flitted close to Yarrowheart. "Courage." "Once you have lived out each of these nine lives, deeming yourself worthy of them, you shall be named leader." Lionstar meowed. "You can't do this!" Yarrowheart screamed, "I am to be Yarrowstar!" "I name you Nostar," Lionstar hissed. "Nostar! Nostar!" the eight cats chanted. The red tom bounded forward again, his amber eyes blazing with confidence. "To be a good leader, you must be brave. What kind of bravery is it to kill your leader in cold blood? You must walk the path of bravery," Nostar tried to pull away, but he was rooted to the spot. The ginger tom touched his nose to Nostar's and Yarrowheart let out a screech. StarClan faded around him. "Good bye Nostar," Was the last thing he heard. Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics